1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a separate type air conditioner, and more particularly, to a filter unit provided at an indoor unit for an air conditioner and purifying the air, the indoor unit which heats/cools a room.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, an air conditioner is an apparatus for controlling temperature and humidity of air in a particular area according to a use. As an example of the air conditioner, there is an apparatus having a compressor and a heat exchanger and flowing a refrigerant so as to cool/heat an interior space such as a restaurant, a library, or an office. The air conditioner is divided into am integrated type air conditioner and a separate type air conditioner.
The integrated type air conditioner includes an indoor unit having a heat exchanger for cooling/heating the room, and an outdoor unit having a heat exchanger fir exchanging heat with the outside air and a compressor for compressing the refrigerant at a high temperature with a high pressure.
In this case, the indoor unit and the outdoor unit are separately provided at inside or outside of a room, respectively, and connected with each other via a refrigerant pipe.
Hereinafter, the indoor unit of the separate type air conditioner in accordance with a related art will be described with reference to the appended drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an indoor unit of a separate type air conditioner in accordance with a related art, and FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing the indoor unit of the separate type air conditioner in accordance with the related art.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the indoor unit of the separate type air conditioner in accordance with the related art includes a cabinet 10, a heat exchanger 20 provided in the cabinet 10, and a fan 30 provided at a lower part of the heat exchanger 20 for forcing airflow.
In this instance, a front air inlet (not shown) is provided on a front surface of the cabinet 10, an upper air inlet (not shown) is provided on an upper surface thereof, and an air outlet 11 is provided at a lower part thereof.
A front suction grill 12 and a top suction grill 13 are provided at the front air inlet and the top air inlet, respectively. In this case, the top suction grill 13 and the cabinet 10 are formed as a single body.
A front filter 14 is provided inside of the front suction grill 12 so as to purify the air drawn through the front air suction inlet.
Meanwhile, the cabinet 10 includes a louver 15 for controlling the air discharged to the outlet in a left/right direction, and a vein 16 for controlling the air discharged to the air outlet 11 in an up/down direction.
The indoor unit of the related art with the aforementioned structural elements draws in the air from outside of the cabinet 10 through the operation of the fan 30, i.e., from the room, and the air drawn into the indoor unit is cooled/heated at the heat exchanger 20 and then discharged back to the room so as to cool/heat the room.
In the indoor unit of the air conditioner in accordance with the related art, only the air drawn in through the front air inlet 12 is purified by the front filter 14, but the air drawn in through the top air inlet having the top suction grill provided thereat is discharged to the room without being purified, resulting in a problem that the air is insufficiently purified.
When a separate filter is provided in the cabinet 10 to purify the air drawn in through the top air inlet, there is a problem that it is difficult to replace the filter.